Foodie Asshole: JP's Best Fun/Food Combo: Bella Luna

FA Rating: FF
Price: $$
Casual -> Casual+

Bella Luna is a restaurant, and it's combined with Milky Way, a lounge and dance floor. The restaurant has a surprisingly good menu, and the lounge/dance floor/club/whatever aspect always has something going on. Fourth Fridays, for instance, are a dance party where two hundred or so lesbians (many of whom are attractive!) gather to drink and dance on a compact dance floor. It's right next to the Sam Adams Brewery, Ula Cafe, and Mike's Fitness. My first visit was in December 2011.

Everyone loves fun plates.

They have an all right beer selection.

New Grist Gluten-Free Beer

It'd been a while since I'd tried a Gluten-Free beer, and I'd heard they'd gotten better, so I gave this one a go. It's true it wasn't as awful as Toleration was, but it wasn't good either.

Double Luck Mussels - $10 - "Steamed mussels with thai red curry, coconut milk, sweet peppers, lemongrass and cilantro"

This was yummy, but it just feels like two good things - mussels and tom kha gai - thrown together, like if you just added mussels to thai coconut milk soup. That being said, that worked for me just fine. After the mussels were gone, we had soup! Then our bartender gave us bread to sop if up with so I could stop using an empty mussel shell as a spoon.

Bread with soft butter the bartender was nice enough to give us gratis

The night I ate there, it was Trivia Night, which happens every Monday night. It was fun!

I went back in the summer of 2012.

The fish tacos were tasty, though a little mushy both in terms of breading and sauce drenchage. Since each taco came on only one corn tortilla, things got messy fast. The sweet potato fries were great, as always.

Fish Taco Close-Up

The Latin Quarter Pizza - $12 for small $19 if you want the large, which you ought to share with at least three other people if you don't leftovers and/or a belly ache: white pizza w/ chicken, avocado, cheddar, bacon, jalapeno peppers

Bella Luna doesn't have the best pizza in town, but the toppings are pretty sweet. The dough is a bit too thick and chewy, the crusts not necessarily worth eating, unless...

You have sauces to dip them in (also for the fries)! Left: tomatillo (nice, more for the fish tacos though). Right: Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing (Read: Ranch - delicious!)

The next morning the pizza was actually even better, heated up on the stove.

For New Year's Even 2012-2013, I went back:

Fun Cocktails, both pretty good but not amazing

They'll make you a mojito if you ask!

Two Pre-fixe dinners: 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert = $25

Lucky for You Soup: Curried Potato Leek Soup with Broccoli Rabe - This was absolutely delicious, with a nice depth of flavor without being too heavy.

Born Lucky Crab: Fried Green Tomato with Chilled Crab Salad - The crab salad was just decent and overpowered the fried green tomatoes I really wanted to stand out.

Live Long and Prosper Pork Tenderloin: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Crispy Feta Polenta and Tomato Coulis and Caramelized Apples - Tasty but uninteresting. I still don't understand the need to pair apples and pork.

Lucky Streak Steak: Grilled Ribeye Steak with Truffled Parmesan Potato Wedges, Creamed Collard Greens and Tarragon Butter -The steak was sadly overcooked, but all the other stuff was tasty.

Best Wishes Crostada: Fig Crostada with Walnuts and Orange Zest Topped With Mascarpone - This was really good. Sweet fig, tasrt orange, creamy mascarpone, flaky crust, and nutty walnuts - missing nothing.

Fortune Favors the Bold (Vegan): Mini Chocolate (Vegan) Bundt Cake - Better than I thought a vegan chocolate cake would be, but it's not worth seeking out if you're not a vegan.

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